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Viconia DeVir/Combat
| Overview | Combat |
Attacks and abilities
Viconia fights like a level 11 Cleric, capable of casting spells up to level 6 and possessing two Channel Divinity charges.
)
Range: 9 m / 30 ft 
AoE: 15 m / 50 ft (Radius) 
Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft
Recharge: Per turn 
)
Mapping of the Heart spells
Mapped Terror applies 
and an additional condition depending on the character's response to "What is your greatest fear?" during the Mapping of the Heart. Cast against the same target as 
. Two variations have additional effects that buff the Sharrans:
Uniquely cast against Shadowheart if she sat on the bench in the House of Grief, this ability polymorphs Viconia and two allies into wolves.
Honour Mode
(Replaces Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical)
Passives
Viconia's armour and weapons grant her a few passives and boosts:
Handmaiden's Mace
- Set the wearer's Strength score to 18
Allies
Viconia DeVir can be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace. She is joined by 19 other Sharrans:
- Two Justiciar Crusaders:
- Four Sharran Sentrys:
- Five Sharran Fidelians:
- Eight Sharran Novices:
Defection
If Shadowheart became a Dark Justiciar in Act Two, the party can choose certain dialogue options and pass several Ability Checks to convince many of the Sharrans to defect from Viconia's side and ally with the party.
1st Dialogue option
DC 20 Persuasion check or DC 20 Performance check (with 
Disadvantage You are an outsider)- Causes Nightmist to defect.
2nd Dialogue option
- A passive DC 7 Perception check to realize Shadowheart is attempting a coup. Must succeed the check and then select "Connect with her mind. Suggest she talk about the power Shar granted her."
- Causes 7 Sharran Novices (all except Greymask) to defect.
3rd Dialogue option
- Must select either:
- "Give Shadowheart a chance to sway more of Viconia's followers."
- "Wait- I have to know before it's too late. Why did you want the Astral Prism?" and then select either "Shar bid you do all of this?" or else "I've heard enough. Deal with this lot how you wish, Shadowheart."
- Causes Owltalon, Gloommask, Gydd, Uttermask, and Greymask to defect.
Notes:
- Hyrald, Lamona, and the four Sharran Sentrys (Baxta, Fredrichk, Hendly, and Imwise) will never defect.
- Failing the ability checks on the earlier dialogue options does not prevent the party from selecting the later ones.
Encounter details
Viconia is one of the more difficult opponents in the game. She is continuously affected by the conditions 
and 
and begins the battle under the effect of 
. She has a high initiative bonus and will begin her first turn using on the character who underwent the Mapping of the Heart, followed by Mapped Terror on the same target, crippling one character with a series of debuffs. Of the several variations of Mapped Terror, is potentially the worst, fully locking down one character for at least two turns with a 
-like effect.
Viconia herself is a capable melee attacker thanks to the strength bonus from her 
Handmaiden's Mace, application of 
, and potential guaranteed critical hits from . Disarming her can be useful for reducing her damage output, but she will still have many powerful spells to fall back on.
Allies
The Sharrans possess overwhelming strength in numbers. Viconia is supported by nineteen allies including two powerful Justiciar Crusaders, four Sharran Sentrys, five Sharran Fidelian mages, and 8 Sharran Novices. All of her allies possess the passive feature 
which allows them to see through 
and take advantage of many spells and passives like 
and 
. The Sharran Fidelians will cast to set up these effects and also frequently attack with 
to prevent the party from healing.
Honour Mode
Viconia gains one Legendary action per round and three new abilities on Honour Mode: 
, 
, and the passive . Heartwrench adds a high-power targeted attack that focuses down the character whose heartform was mapped, while the latter two abilities defensively buff Viconia and her allies with additional instances of Sanctuary.
Tactics
The easiest way around the Mapping abilities is also the most obvious: don't do the Mapping of the Heart, or don't take the mapped character into battle. Avoiding the Mapping can be done by either leaving the mapped character at camp or passing a DC 20 Investigation check to reveal a button that unlocks the entrance to the Cloister without having to participate in the Mapping. Without the Mapping completed, Viconia cannot use Castigate Heartform or Mapped Terror.
Triggering Viconia's 
with a small AoE source of Radiant damage, such as 
, can prematurely block her Sanctuary and allow her to be targeted as early as the first turn.
It is highly recommended to bring a dedicated caster or a large number of AoE spells to this fight, especially in Honour Mode. This will allow the party to deal with the large number of enemies and potentially bypass Viconia's 
and Legendary abilities which prevent her from being targeted by single-target spells or melee attacks. This is potentially an excellent battle to use a Cleric's Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical, especially in conjunction with death-prevention effects like 
. The enormous radius and large radiant damage will wipe out many weaker Novices and deal significant damage to all other Sharrans, though if it hits Viconia then it will trigger her to kill the caster.
Perhaps most significantly, the entire fight can be somewhat cheesed with a very simple strategy: using the chokepoint. Retreating back up the stairs and through the door will force the entire Sharran army to follow and clump up close together. This makes them very vulnerable to damaging terrain such as 
, 
, and 
, as well as AoE spells such as 
, 
, and 
. It also places the party on the high ground and allows them to keep pushing enemies back onto damaging surfaces with 
, 
Smokepowder Bomb, or even 
.
Allies
It is also critical for the party to focus down the five Sharran Fidelians and Sentry Fredrichk. While Viconia and all her allies have many ways of benefiting from , only these six characters are actually able to cast it. If they are dead or crowd controlled then the other Sharrans will lose access to many powerful synergies and abilities, making them much less threatening.
The Sharran Fidelians also make liberal use of cantrips during the fight. Be sure to prepare your party with additional HP, temporary HP, or a way of preventing damage to one or more characters (invisibility, sanctuary, etc.) to avoid a situation where much of your party is immunized to healing effects.
In the case that the Sharrans are able to fill the battlefield with , the party can rely on certain items and spells to counter it. Sources of immunity to 
such as 
Eversight Ring or 
Shar's Spear of Evening may be necessary for melee characters to wade through the clouds of darkness. The party can also cast 
to dispel the Darkness but they should keep in mind that the most recently cast instance of Sunlight or Darkness will override the other, so Sharran Fidelians could summon more Darkness to extinguish it.
The Justiciar Crusaders, Nightmist and Owltalon, are second only to Viconia in power and are also significant threats to the party. However, they have very low Wisdom saving throws and thus make great targets for crowd control like 
or 
, as well as for mind-control effects like 
or 
.
Notes
- The bestial polymorphs from Mapped Terror: Wolves and Mapped Terror: Spiders are illusory, and thus not targetable with Dominate Beast. They also function like a Druid's Wild Shape, with the polymorphed creature returning to their original form after the beast's hit points are depleted.
- Viconia can be reanimated with Sovereign Glut's spores